The ’3Gs’: Mindset Over Skill Set Critical to Landing a Job, Harvard’s Stoltz Says

All these comments, positive and negative have merit. I've worked in many situations where I have done 'Global,' 'Good,' and 'Grit.' ... to no avail. I quit those outfits. Corp. America can be insanely frustrating, with known idiots somehow getting ahead thru politics, and good people wildly overlooked. I have spent my own money at times for software, tools, and resources because my employer wouldn't. One thing I've learned is that a corp. culture rarely changes ... if the place you are at stinks, it will likely continue to stink unless you get radical change in the management. I've visited prior companies after spans as long as 10 years, only to see that NOTHING had changed. All you can do is keep trying to either find a place you love to work, or try working for yourself ... both have drawbacks so it's all a matter of what works for you!

What a crock for the most part. He is right that companies want people with a particular mind set and they usually hire that way. And as stated "skill and ability mean very little nowadays. Dedication is also a thing of the past. The real clincher for obtaining and keeping a job now is YOUR ABILITY TO KISS A_ _ , play office politics, and keep the @#$% flowing (meaning - pass the buck and LIE). I have seen CEOs that could barely read, engineers that could not read a blueprint, employees that could not write, yet they all had a position AND a good line of BULL. Honesty is 99% non existent and little to no loyalty is left anywhere. This is what corporate America wants and what the government is pushing. MIND SET over Skill and Ability my butt. This kind of thinking and practice is what put us into the predicament we are in now. Without the Skill and Ability all you have is talk. You can TALK the TALK but YOU CANNOT WALK THE WALK.

USSA is one day closer.

I was one of those 3G engineers for decades. After getting my manager multiple bonuses (along with the team), I received layoff just like the slackers. After getting promoted to first level manager and then acting 2d level at major aerospace corporation, I was highly instrumental in getting two women promoted (one software and the other project management). In turn, they married executives and then became baby manufacturers while retaining their paid positions. My bottom line after decades in the biz is that employees are there to do the work and make the biz succesful. Then you lose your job after acquisiton or after program completion. Not fair maybe but myadvise to those having their own hair color yet is to go into passive income jobs such as investing, real estate, or self employed like beauty school or lawyering. sign me retired and not missing engineering one darn bit!

Why does the interview process seem to come down to a personality test? If you an extroverted salesman type your chances are better than if you are a more introverted, details oriented engineering type. There is merit to what this guy is saying but I would still hope that my skill set trumps my personality but I guess this guy is confirming my suspicions that it isn't so. BTW, you could have those 3 G's down pat but if you over 50 good luck.

Horsefeathers. What they say and what they do are completely different things. Managers want you to hit the ground running with specific skills applicable to specific situations. They want you to support management regardless of how stupid it is. Whatever makes them look good.

Personally, I hate these articles. I was born with autism and I have had to fight depression my entire life. I have NEVER been good with people and I have NEVER been able to work well in groups. Instead I have learned to compensate by being the very best I can be in my chosen trade. All this behavioral bullshit does is reinforce a company's motivation to discriminate against many types of disabilities.

I just love it when the Ivy's suggest improvement for the blue collar and lower management set.

You've done such a good job for us up to now, why stop?

Jobs are all about power relationships and protection of turf. It is a rare boss indeed who can handle an employee with the 3G's. What you need to do is figure what the boss wants to hear. That's how to get ahead. You don't need to do much work. Just look right and talk right.

If you really want to work hard and demonstrate initiative, intelligence etc, start your own business.

Another example of a broken system:

If a '3G' person is worth 7.2 people, than why doesn't corporate America pay them 7.2 times more in salary? After all, by the same reasoning CEOs command 50 to 100 times the compensation of their employees.

25 years in corporate America taught me that the social skills that allow a subordinate to please the people who can do his career good are what is paramount.

That requires a high social IQ, and the willingness to subordinate one's personality and values. It does not require concern for others, hard work, technical competence, or vision in a what is good for the company kind of way.

If in fact Stolz and Reed actually believe in what they are peddling, I would like to talk to them about a bridge I have been trying to sell.

This is what it comes down to...if you exhibit any truly independent thought, any resistance to "the program", some "kindly" manager will put his arm around your shoulders one day and give you "The Talk": "What is more important to you, your conscience or your paycheck?"

That's it. Along with your willingness to sacrifice your family life for The Almightly Godlike Corporation. Fit in. Get along. Play golf, not baseball. Vacation in Paris, not Argentina or Africa. Don't be something "weird", like a vegetarian. Think of the Almighty Godlike Corporation as a cult.

Then you should be able to at least keep your job and rise to the level of your incompetence.

The article is all nonsense.

I work for what is now a fortune 250 company that used to be a Fortune 400 company after a takeover about 8 years ago.

To all college graduates- get ready for the world of corporate office politics, especially if the company you work for is taken over by another. What basically happens is that even if you cure cancer, find the meaning of life, or make everyone a millionaire, politics will slap you down. Hq has to show you who is boss - them.

A sad comment on American business today. I am so glad I am near the end of the roller coaster ride instead of just getting on. I do not envy the folks just going into the workforce toady.

Good luck and good night.

The three Gs are Gold, Greed and Grease.

You need to have or come from money - Gold
You need to want more - Greed
You need to know who to support - Grease.

This is not horseshoe, nor the Harvard mind. It's the new mantra political/business leaders (all the same) want us to swallow from now on. That way we become the gullible, reliable, slaves they want who will take all their abuse. It's becoming more pronounced lately in governments where Republicans have taken hold of the government and the Business is King real horseshoe is pouring endlessly. As for Harvard? Anyone with an advanced degree acquired in the last 20 years or so has seen Academia taken over by the "globalization" crap mentality and realized, hey, it's become just a spokesman of a new Business world order. World, yes, that's why embracing globalization has become so important.

If this is what employers look for no wonder we are in such a financial mess.
Global - okay for company directors but we need people who can look at the detail as well.
Good - since when has this helped make profit for a company unless you are a charity.
Grit - In other words keep going even when you are wrong or have higher priorities elsewhere?
It's just academic bullshit as usual designed by management types with no-skills.

This is beyond ridiculous. Dude unless you're out there, you don't know jack. Take a sabbatical, get a job and write a sequel, k? k.

Desire v what they actually do are 2 different things. This is not reality. It is wishful thinking.

Typical "Harvard" mind ..completely full of useless vagaries. The entire corporate world is based on looks. If you are perceived as good looking/athletic then the higher up people will automatically like you and you will almost automatically be perceived as "driven", "intelligent" and "successful". Which will give you the confidence to actually be those things. The better looking and more athletic you are the better job you will have and the more money you will make. If you are the best looking & most athletic person of all candidates for any job or promotion you will get the job or promotion its that simple folks. This prejudice starts in kindergarten and will follow you your entire life. Even your grades in grade school and in high school will be based upon your looks. ...btw If you are good looking you probably won't agree with this because you have not been discriminated against based upon your looks.

I think this professor is only partially right; you need this 3Gs and perfect skills. The glitch in his method is that when you interview a professional and asks him about what he likes with his surbodinates he/she assumes that skills are a given. Imagine being the boss of an hospital and one of your surgeon killed his last 5 patients but he still trying hard for the next one.

Unfortunately, this mindset strategy is not what I am seeing in the job market. Potential employers seem to be VERY focused on a VERY specific set of skills for each opening and unwilling to spend time to bring a new applicant up to speed. In today's market where there are many applicants for each position, companies appear to be holding out for the perfect applicant that satisfies 80-90% or more of a narrowly defined job specification. If they have the mindset qualities, this is great but they only get the job if the skills are also there. In a normal job market, I have seen companies more flexible and willing to bend on required skills but not in this environment. No one want to be the person who hired the applicant who was weak on skills and didn't work out.